Happened to be looking into the trunk area when my top was halfway up and noticed that the reservoir for the hydraulic fluid was about half full. Anybody know if that is the correct level?

 

It is, after the top is done moving and pressure released, the level in the tank is higher.

Leave the top in that position and wait ten minutes, the pressure will be automatically released and you'll see the level go up - just as the top and cover come down and crash into one another !

 

Thanks pizzaguy

 

I have a leak on the driver side cylinder. I do not know if this moment if it is the connector or the seals in the cylinder itself. I have a couple of questions.

1. What type of hydraulic fluid is used and can I only get it at a Mercedes dealer?
2. I see where the tank is located, how readily accessible is to fill?
3. Do I need to remove the motor to fill the tank?

Thanks Randy

 

Randy, I think they expect you to remove the trim in the trunk to fill it. Not sure HOW to do that, either.

I once asked about the fluid, guy at Gibson's in ATL said it was a somewhat common fluid and I believe he said it was used in several makes of cars - but that many of the American ones used a different weight. The manuals I have looked in don't mention the fluid in the section in the back on fluids - and I have searched EVERY manual!

I think the best option is to call your local Mercedes dealer and tell them your SLK320's top is leaking fluid and you wanna buy some, or at least want the specs/type to use.

Or you could call a Chrysler dealer and make yourself more frustrated than a peeping Tom at a nudist resort.

 

I believe it is MB 343.0 Hydraulic Fluid A0009899103. I went on the MB forum and this seems to be the one. Hopefully, it is just a loose connection at cylinder.

 

Hydraulic Pump Refill Kit for Mercedes Benz SL500 R129 Convertible Soft Top AMG | eBay

 

From 2005 Repair Manual, 23-545
Same fluid as the power steering uses.

FLUID
DESCRIPTION
The Convertible Top Power Top Hydraulic Assembly and Reservoir are filled at the factory with Pentosin CHF 11S.
Use Pentosin CHF 11S, Mopar part number 05127381AA. Pump noise and reduced component life may result if an unapproved fluid is used.

DESCRIPTION - POWER STEERING FLUID
No service required or recommended. Filled at the factory with Pentosin CHF 11S. Use Pentosin CHF 11S, Mopar
part number 05127381AA. Steering noise and reduced component life may result if an unapproved fluid is used.

 

They must have updated the manual since I looked last night.

 

It helps if you can read.

 

Found that the problem is a leaking cylinder. I will be replacing it on Tuesday. The cylinder will cost about $250. Much better than the $4300 for the motor replacement. I want to sell the meds that chrysler is taking to try and rape crossfire owners.

You would think that the government would force Mercedes to honor those vehicles that they produced with Chrysler when they were married and give us the parts numbers. The same merc part is 20-50% less than if you buy it from the stealerships.

 

It really is absurd how much Chrysler hikes up the price of parts for these cars. I'm ordering a new fender liner since the original sagged and rubs the tire.

Mercedes cost $46.40
Chrysler cost $82.39, for the same damn part.

 

Its all about markup. Chrysler dealerships have to buy the parts from Mercedes, for only slightly less than the average Joe can buy them for. The parts guys aren't going to do the research to locate the correct part for a small markup margin. Most places do a 50% markup (double) on parts unless the buyer baulks loudly. You can usually beat them up a bit to give you a 'discount'.

 

Got the new cylinder put in this morning. I used a 20 ml syringe from the office to fill the reservoir tank. Seems to be working very good.

I wonder if when they replaced the top last month if they messed up the connector at the bottom side where the fluid goes in. Hmmmmmm

 

Need help!! I need instructions on how to uninstall the left and right cylinders. The local dealership wants to charge me $700 for the rebuild and $500 for labor. I want to go with Top Hydralics which will do the rebuild for $300. Just need to get them out and back in.

Thanks!!!

 

Wolfie28,

your timing is almost perfect. You can certainly save a lot of money by doing this yourself, and it is not difficult. Forum member g3air has recently started an extensive thread on problems with his convertible top hydraulics, which lead to discussion of the pump removal and rebuild, hydraulic fluid, and the merits of removing all his cylinders and having them rebuilt by Top Hydraulics. g3air is in the process of removing all his hydraulic cylinders, and I expect that we will be seeing photos soon in his thread: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...p-problem.html. Meanwhile, seasoned forum member ala_xfire has announced that he is working on DIY removal instructions for all cylinders, which is awesome!

By the way, you can drive and use your car when the two main lift cylinders are out for rebuild - just don't push that convertible top button. The top can still be moved and locked manually. See pizzaguy's awesome video on manual top operation: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...operation.html

Below, I will explain the cylinder removal for the left and right main lift cylinders p/n 5142639AA and 5170015AA briefly, and suggest that we post a link to ala_xfire's DIY once it is finished. Ala_xfire has been battling some rough weather, so it may be a while until the DIYs are ready.

For general reference, here is a picture of a right main lift cylinder, just starting to leak.

The leak typically starts on the bottom of the cylinder, where the mounting pin goes through. This is not the only seal going bad in your hydraulic cylinder - Top Hydraulic actually upgrades seven seals per cylinder. The decay of the original seals is a chemical reaction that cannot be stopped. It is accelerated by heat, contamination, and the wrong fluid in the top hydraulic system. I will add some comments about hydraulic fluid to the end of this post. Here is a picture that explains which seals we are replacing and upgrading in a hydraulic cylinder rebuild:



Here are the cylinder removal steps for the main lift cylinders in a nutshell:
1) From the closed position, lift up the rear bow and the storage cover/tonneau cover. You will see the main lift cylinders down on the outside corners of the soft top storage area.
2) The left main lift cylinder has two travel sensors, which are clipped onto the cylinder's aluminum rail. Carefully remove them without breaking the tabs. (If the tabs should break, then you can later still glue the sensor back in.) Here is a picture of a similar travel sensor being removed from the tonneau cylinder 5142641AA:

3) Remove the pin going through the top clevis and push the cylinder shaft into the cylinder. Repeat on the other side (you may have to hold one shaft down while retracting the other one). With the shafts retracted, you don't risk damaging the highly polished surface of the shaft when performing the rest of the cylinder removal.
4) Remove bottom pin and remove cylinder.
5) Remove hydraulic lines. Details on hydraulic line removal: the lines are held in place with clips that slide in the cylinder's rail. Don't loose the clips - put them where you can find them again. Top Hydraulics will send you new o-rings to put on the hydraulic lines, but you get back only as many hydraulic line clips as you have sent us. Typically, tapping the clips with a small flat screwdriver will break them free. The hydraulic lines will pull straight out of the cylinders.
6) Place the hydraulic line ends into a clean container, for example zip-tying a ziplock bag around them.
7) Cycle the remaining fluid out of the cylinders. You don't want the fluid to soak your parcel.

Get some hydraulic fluid - see my comments below. Pentosin CHF-11S or FeBi 02615 (Mercedes 0009899103 aka A 000 989 91 03 10).

Place a rebuild order online with Top Hydraulics Rebuild/Upgrade Service for Chrysler Crossfire Roadster Hydraulic Cylinders - Top Hydraulics, Inc, include the receipt or write the order number on your parcel., and send the cylinders off to Top Hydraulics, 90730 Southview Lane, Florence, OR 97439. USPS Priority Mail is an efficient way to send these cylinders.

About the pricing that your dealer has quoted you: shops and dealers have to mark up the parts they are selling a little to cover their own overhead, cost, time, and risk. With Top Hydraulics' availability and pricing becoming better known in the community, huge mark-ups on our rebuild service will hopefully soon be a thing of the past. There are some rare cases where people have accidentally scratched the plated, polished cylinder shaft upon removal from the car, or where salt water may have sat on top of the cylinder and corroded the plated shaft. In such cases, we have to replace the cylinder shaft with one of our own production and charge extra for that. We charge $100 per shaft/piston replacement (which is close to our own cost) if needed, and again, that is rare. If there are small blemishes that we can polish out, then we do not charge extra. We make our shafts out of polished, hardened, stainless steel. Maybe your dealership had to pay us for a shaft replacement in the past and they are covering their backs.

About hydraulic fluid:
The fluids of choice are Pentosin CHF-11S (available in good car part stores), Mercedes fluid A0009899103 (at your friendly Mercedes-Benz dealer), or Febi 02615 (online). FeBi 02615 is the one ultimately sold in the link referenced below. I will add to this post once again a few comments about hydraulic fluid:

What is so special about the top hydraulic fluid
The kind of fluid used in your system is important, because the wrong fluid can be bad for the pump and it can make all cylinders' seals fail prematurely, or cause corrosion, or make the top move too slow.
Viscosity: the fluid should have low viscosity over a wide temperature range without being a huge fire hazard.
Lubrication and rust protection: moving components should stay lubricated, and the shafts of the hydraulic cylinders get a very thin coat of oil on them as they move in and out, to prevent corrosion.
Inertness: the fluid should not react with the seals in the pump, the solenoid valves, and the hydraulic cylinders. The latter is most important, because the seals in the hydraulic cylinders are most sensitive. The original cylinders all have seals that decay with time, which is a chemical reaction that you cannot prevent. However, heat and the wrong additives in the hydraulic fluid can accelerate the decay of the cylinder seals.
Emulsifiers: the hydraulic fluid should not have emulsifiers in it. The fluid level in the reservoir changes as you move the top, and fresh air gets introduced. That air has humidity in it, and the humidity can condense or get absorbed in the wrong fluid. Brake fluid, for example, absorbs water. Water is one of the worst enemies of your cylinders' seals. The original polyurethane seals in the cylinders fall apart when exposed to water - the material "hydrolizes". If the hydraulic fluid does not have emulsifiers, then condensed water will simply fall to the bottom of the reservoir and not do any harm unless there is so much that it gets sucked into the pump after all.

Brands and p/n's for "liquid gold"
Most auto brands have their own part numbers for the hydraulic fluid, but end up re-labeling Aral Vitamol, Pentosin CHF-11S, or Univis HVI 26. The cheapest fluid in the list below is FeBi 02615, used by Mercedes-Benz in top systems with components almost identical to the Crossfire's. The list below is not covering all brands out there, but it's a good start:

FeBi 02615 (same as Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche fluid) some $10/quart. Available online, for example at Mercedes Convertible Top Hydraulic Pump Fluid (1 Liter) (MBZ Approval:343.0) 000989910310 - RM European Auto Parts (Top Hydraulics or I do not have a financial interest in this).
Mercedes-Benz A 000 989 91 03 (available at Mercedes dealers)
Pentosin CHF-11S (available in good parts stores)
Univis HVI 26 (pushed for Cadillac XLR and Corvette C6)
Saab 93165227
BMW 54340394395
Hoerbiger HB92952-215
Aral Vitamol (in Europe)
Meyle 0009899103 (down under).

How about Stop-Leak
Don't use it, or all cylinders will fail sooner at almost the same time. The idea is that Stop-Leak type fluids swell up seals and make them work again. In the instances that it works, the cylinders will fail again soon and the additive will have attacked all other cylinders' seals at the same time. We find that the seals in systems with Stop-Leak in them crumble apart much more than others, and the additives will make even brand new OEM cylinders fail a lot faster. Stop-Leak is not good for convertible top systems.

I hope this helps,

Klaus

Top Hydraulics | Rebuilt and Upgraded Convertible Top Cylinders, Pumps, Hydraulic Lines - Top Hydraulics, Inc

Part numbers for reference:
Hydraulic pump 5142638AA
Right main lift cylinder 5170015AA
Left main lift cylinder 5142639AA
Right bow tension cylinder 5170014AA
Left bow tension cylinder 5142640AA
Tonneau cover lift cylinder 5142641AA
Rear bow latch cylinder 05142957AA
Tonneau cover (storage cover) latch cylinder 05166559AA

 

Here are some details on hydraulic line removal - I hope that the attached picture clarifies the process.

1) Retract the polished cylinder shaft. This pushes more fluid back into the pump, plus you minimize the chance that your polished cylinder shaft gets damaged by slipping tools.
2) Tap on the hydraulic line clip with a small, flat screwdriver. My favorite place to set that screwdriver is opposite the rounded end - this way, you are less likely to have the screwdriver slip on you. You may have to tap the screwdriver with a hammer to break the clip loose.
3) With the clip fully clearing the hydraulic line, pull the hydraulic line straight out.

Klaus

Top Hydraulics | Rebuilt and Upgraded Convertible Top Cylinders, Pumps, Hydraulic Lines - Top Hydraulics, Inc

 

can you tell me where you found this? any pics would help. thanx

 

You are referring to a post that was added two and half years ago and you do not say what you are looking for.
When you are referring to a particular post you should click on QUOTE in the post you are questioning.

 

sorry. i was looking for the hydraulic fill reservoir for the convertible top. he stated he noticed it was half full.